Filing cabinet



g- 3 9 ..Lw. PAXTON ETAL FILING CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet l III Filed Jan. 4, 1945 J. w. PAXTON ETAL FILING CABINET Filed Jan. 4, 1945 C: CZ 7 ,4

I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 13 w th FILING CABINET John Warren Paxton, Bloomington, and Irving Richard Cornish, Elmhurst, 111.

Application January 4, 1945, Serial No. 571,272

Claims. 1

The main objects of thi invention are to provide an improved form of filing cabinet wherein the movement of the container between storage and access positions in the container compartment is automatically effected by the horizontal shifting of the cabinet panel, after being swung from its position serving as a closure for said container compartment to it's full open position; to provide an improved mounting of the container within the casing for a reciprocating horizontal movement between its storage and access positions; to provide improved means hingedly supporting said panel and movable horizontally of said casing when said panel is in alinement with said means; to provide improved connections between the container and the casing-panel supporting means whereby the shifting of said means automatically efiects the shifting of the container between its storage and access positions; to provide an improved construction of this kind particularly suitable for filing cabinets of the sidefiling type; and to provide a side-filing cabinet construction of this kind which is exceedingly simple and inexpensive to manufacture, which economizes on floor space for either storage or access purposes, and which is the acme of convenience in use.

In the structures illustrated in the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a two-container unit embodying the preferred form of this invention, the upper container being shown in its closed or storage position and the lower container being shown in its open or access position;

Fig. 2 i an enlarged transverse sectional view, taken from a plane just within the side wall I6, showing the container in its closed or storage position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the casing panel, which constitutes a closure for the container compartment, in horizontal alinement with its supporting means, in which position the panel is shiftable transversely of the casing to effect the outward shifting of the container.

Fig. 4 is a view, similar to Fig. 3, showing the panel and its support retracted and the container in its correspondingly open or access position;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, showing the roller-rack support for the container and the mounting for the connecting link mechanism whereby the shifting of the casing panel and its support automatically effects an outward shifting of the container;

Fig. 6 i a plan view, partly broken away, showing a modified form of the connecting link mechanism whereby the horizontal shifting of the casing panel and its support effects the outward shifting of the container (in thi view the arrangement of the parts correspond with those shown in Fig. 3).

Fig. 7 is a view similarto Fig. 6 but showing the parts shifted so. as to move the container into its access position similar to the position of the parts shown in Fig. 4

Fig. 8 is a transverse view of the same taken on a plane directly inward of the casing end [0, with the container retracted to its storage position and the cabinet panel closing the container compartment; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional detail taken on the line 99 of Fig. 6.

A type of filing cabinet, constructed in accordance with this invention, as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, comprises a casing or housing It] providing a compartment il wnerein is mounted a container l2 horizontally movable between storage and access positions as an action complementary to the horizontal mining of a casing panel l3, and its supporting means Hi, the movement of the panel and means being communicated to the container through link mechanism lb.

The casing or housing iii comprises the usual sides Iii, a back H, a bottom Hi, and a top I9, suitably assembled and secured together so as to provide one or more container compartments ll.

Where the casing or housing is arranged to provide more than one compartment ll, partitions it! are appropriately positioned therein to separate the several compartments. For each such compartment the panel it constitutes a closure when in its vertical position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and Z5.

, 'l'iie container 12 is formed with a bottom member 2i and a back member 22 secured together at right angles by means or a pair or end members 26. PreIei-ably, the I'orward portions of these eiid members 2c are rounded, as shown in the drawings. Rollers as, suitably jouriialed on the sides 23, of the container :2, are supported in tracks 25, attached to the casing sides It, to provide ior the horizontal sniiting or the container between its retracted or storage position in the casing compartment Ii, as shown in Figs.

1, 2, 3, and u, and its extended or access position, as shown in Figs. 1, e and 7. The tracks 25 are secured at their ends with the intermediate portions spaced from the side walls I6.

In the modification shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the casing panel I3 is hinged to the plate l4, the ends or which are received in channels 27 formed to permit said plate to slide inwardly and outwardly on the bottom l8 or the partition 20. (See Fig. 5.) The bottom it or partition 20 is recessed adjacent to the sides to provide clearance for the ends of the links l5.

Pairs of links 15, whereby the shifting of the plate I4 effects a counter-shifting of the container 12, are pivoted at 28 on the inner faces of the sides It of the casing. Slots 29 and 30 are formed in the ends of each of the links I5 which receive pins SI and 32 secured, respectively, to the container ends 23 and the plate 14. The pivots 28 for the links H: and the formation of the slots 29 and 30, together with the positioning of the pins 3! and 32 are such that the backward and forward movement of the plate I l, as effected by the panel l3, will cause an opposite movement of the container l2 between its storage and access positions, respectively;

In the modification shown in Figs. 6, '7, 8, and 9, the panel i3 is hinged to a pair of bars i4 mounted on rollers for reciprocal movement in channels 21' formed on the bottom ill or partitions 25 adjacent to the sides l6 of the casing. The channels in this case may well be grooves cut in the face of the partition 2'0 or the bottom 18. The sides I6 of the casing are recessed to provide clearance for the ends of the links 15'. The pair of links l5 are pivoted at 28' on the bottom !8 or partition 20 of the casing. The end slots 30' receive pins 32' on the bars l4.

- However, the inner ends of the links l5 carry the pins 3| which are received in slots 29' formed in a channel bar 33, which is adapted to receive a roller 84 journaled o'nithe bottom 2! of the container l2. Y The material for filing in the containers I2 is arranged therein in a vertical position with the index tabs at the outer upper corners and extending beyond the curved portionsof the container ends l 2. The material is' placed in or removed from the containersidewise, ratherthan from the top as is the case with pull-out type of container of the conventional filing cabinet.

The operation of the device is believed to be fully apparent fromthe foregoing description. Other variationsfand modincations in the details of the structure and arrangement of the parts maybe resorted to within the spirit and coverage of the appended claims.

We claim:

1.' A file cabinet comprising, a vertically disposed casing' providing an open-front container compartment, a container mounted on said casing within said compartment for "shifting between a storage position wholly within said compartment and an access position partially extended beyond the front of said casing, a casing panel constituting a closure for said open front of the container compartment, means slidably mounted on said casing and hingedly connected to said panel to permit the swinging thereof into and out of the plane of movement of said means to be shifted therewith transversely of said casing, and

mechanism connecting said means and container whereby the movement of said means and panel causes a shifting of said container between its storage and access positions.

2. A file cabinet comprising, a vertically disposed casing providing an open-front container compartment, acontainer mounted on said casing within said compartment for shifting between a storage position wholly within said compartment and an access position partially extended beyond the front of said casing, a casing panel constituting a closure for said open front of the container compartment, a plate slidably mounted on said casing under said container and hingedly connected to said panel to permit the swinging thereof into and out of the plane of movement of said plate to be shifted therewith transversely of said casing, and link mechanism pivoted on said casing and having suitable pin and slot connection with said plate and said container whereby the movement of said plate and panel causes a shifting of said container between its storage and access positions.

3. A filing cabinet, comprising a vertically disposed casing providing an open-front container compartment, a container mounted on said casing within said compartment for horizontal shifting through said open front between a storage position wholly within said compartment and an access position partially extended beyond the front of said casing, a casing panel constituting a closure for said open front of the container compartment, means slidably mounted on said casing under said container and hingedly connected to said panel to permit swinging thereof into and out of the plane of movement of said means to be shifted therewith transversely of said casing, and mechanism connecting said means and container whereby the movement of said means and panel causes a shifting of said container between its storage and access positions.

4. A filing cabinet, comprising a vertically disposed casing providing an open-front container compartment, a container mounted on said casing within said compartment for horizontal shifting through said open front between a storage position wholly within said compartment and an access position partially extended beyond the front of said casing, a casing panel constituting a closure for said open front of the container compartment, means slidably mounted on said casing under said container and hingedly connected to said panel to permit swinging thereof into and out of the plane of movement of said means to be shifted therewith transversely of said casing, and link mechanism pivoted on said casing and having suitable pin and slot connection with said means and said container whereby the movement of said means and panel causes a shifting of said container between its storage and access positions.

5. A filing cabinet, comprising a vertically disposed casing providing an open-front container compartment, a container mounted on said casing within said compartment for horizontal shifting'through said open front between a storage position wholly within said compartment and an access position partially extended beyond the front of said casing, a casing panel constituting a closure for said open front of the container compartment, a pair of bars slidably mounted on the bottom of said casing adjacent to the sides thereof and hingedly connected to said panel to permit the swinging thereof into and out of horizontal al'inement with said bars to be shifted therewith transversely of: said casing, a pair of links pivoted intermediate their ends on the bot-' tom of said casing and having pin and slot connection at their outer ends to said bars, a channel bar having pin and slot connection with the inner ends of said links, and a pin on said container seated in said channel bar whereby the shifting of said bars causes an opposite shifting of said container between its access and storage positions.

' JOHN WARREN PAXTON.

IRVING RICHARD CORNISH. 

